Los Angeles

Los Angeles Travel Guide

The City of Angels has long been associated with extremes. On one side, there are the beaches, near-perfect weather and a parade of good-looking people who are either famous or—coyly shielded behind their sunglasses and caps—at least look like they could be famous. On the other end, there’s the legendary tangle of freeways, the infamous (but now less noticeable) smog and the epitome of American sprawl. The good news? For the most part, the reality of Los Angeles lies somewhere between those two extremes, with its depth of good museums, vibrant ethnic communities and cutting-edge culture that’s tempered by a sunny sense of fun. Many travelers visit Los Angeles to experience Hollywood, but as the A-listers themselves know, there’s much more to the city once you stray beyond the Walk of Fame. Read on in this Los Angeles travel guide to get your own close-up of this often-underrated city:

Things Not to Miss in Los Angeles

When to Go to Los Angeles

Like much of Southern California, the variations among the four seasons in L.A. are small: a forecast of sunny and 70 degrees can happen any time of year. The Los Angeles travel season peaks in summer, both in terms of crowds and prices. June, however, may be an exception: the regular occurrence of fog this time of year (called June Gloom by the locals, and often a surprise to visitors) means some days can be too chilly for swimming. Early fall is an excellent time to travel to Los Angeles instead: prices drop a little, but you often have a better chance of 80-degree-and-above temperatures for beach days. The only weather risk come from the fall’s Santa Ana winds, which can be strong. Winter and early spring carry the highest likelihood of rain and cooler temperatures (sometimes even chilly at night), but the lowest prices.

DON'T MISS

Grilled cheese night at Campanile: on Thursday evenings, this restaurant—one of the city’s fanciest—gives itself over to comfort cuisine.

Articles about Los Angeles

It was only a matter of time before the family that gave the world Mama Shelter hotels brought their egalitarian vision of cool stateside—and what better place than anyone-can-be-a-star Hollywood? The idiosyncratically hip hotel brand turned heads...

The hippest hotels now have juice bars. Kimpton is serving fresh-pressed blends at its U.S. properties. Miami’s Metropolitan by Como specializes in an anti-bloating concoction (so you can rock your bikini with confidence). And at the Ace Hotel Dow...

David Kaplan and Alex Day, the cocktail geniuses who rewrote the book on bartending at New York’s renowned Death & Company, are now conquering Los Angeles with a trio of bars: Honeycut, and the recently opened Normandie Club and Walker Inn. We ask...

January 31 is the perfect day to get a dose of culture in Los Angeles, when the city is hosting the tenth annual Museums Free-For-All program. More than 20 museums will offer free general admission, including the Museum of Contemporary Art, the Cr...

The Chateau. The Pink Palace. The Riot Hyatt. L.A.’s big and buzzy glamour-puss hotels have served as sceney backdrops for the indiscretions of nearly a century’s worth of A-listers. But now that paparazzi lenses and cell-phone cameras rule the ro...

It’s rare that anyone actually enjoys being in airports these days, but if you’re obliged to wait out, say, a seven-hour layover, you’ll likely find it far more pleasant to do so overseas than in some bleak U.S. terminal. Consider your options abr...

Nail salons across the country are putting a luxury shine on the typical no-frills manicure—and the women (and some men) of the style set can’t resist. Appointments are booked up two weeks in advance at New York’s Paintbox, where the sleek lacquer...

L.A. Confidential
Jewelry designer Jennifer Meyer—whose delicate rings and necklaces are all handmade in the city—opens up her little black book.
For beauty: Violet Grey (8452 Melrose Place) is a gem of a store showcasing products picked by ...

When Matt McKinney took a 39-day road trip in 2012, he experienced one version of the American dream, just before he reached the Pacific Ocean: a flawless burger.
“It was a really big, juicy patty and a perfectly moist bun,” says the Dallas-based...

The thing you tend to forget when you're planning a road trip with young kids is that they don't like to leave the places they like. Children are natural-born Buddhists—fervent in their devotion to the here and now. Whatever the next roadside attr...